Jason stood on the moor, a carpet of unconscious souls spanning between him and the distant castle, often dumped in piles. Jason looked at the newcomer, an elf in a simple, sand-coloured dress that accentuated her delicate features and the warm brown tones of her hair and skin.
“Raythe,” Jason said. “I’d invite you in, but I’m kind of between places right now. My cloud house is locked away in my astral kingdom.”
“Umber did not want you to have ready access to a dimension ship.”
“It’s not like I can dimensional travel out of this realm to use one.”
“While you lack any specific power for dimensional travel, you have done so before.”
“Under some extremely specific circumstances. I’m assuming the Builder didn’t put a cosmic link between this place and somewhere else, the way he did Earth.”
“No, but if you achieve diamond-rank with your portal power, dimensional translocation will become available to you.”
“My understanding is that I will only be able to travel to dimensions that I’ve been to after unlocking that ability. Which means that even if I get that power to diamond, I won’t be able to go anywhere with it until I take the long way first.”
“Yes, but you have a habit of bending rules. Umber is wary of this.”
“Well, joke’s on him, because you’re here to get me out. You are here to get me out, right?”
“I’m sorry, but no.”
“No? We had a deal. I don’t break time and you would help me when no one else could. Given that you can come in here when no one else can, I’d say this qualifies.”
“My ability to intervene here is limited. I am an agent of the Keeper of the Sands, and this realm belongs to the Reaper.”
“My understanding is that he lost the lease.”
“Even corrupted, it is his authority that holds sway here. In accordance with the rules you restored by repairing the Cosmic Throne.”
“Yeah, but you’re an employee, right? I don’t need you to tap your boss for power; I just need a ride out.”
“It is my position as the Keeper’s vessel that allows me to be here. Where there is time, I must be allowed to go. But when I can only enter a place due to my position, I can only act in that place in accordance with my position.”
“Meaning that you’re allowed to come in and look, but you can’t do anything unless you find out that some nutbag has busted the space-time continuum.”
“Yes,” she said, her expression a warning.
“So, if I—”
“Do not, Jason Asano. Do not even try. I will make certain that the price you pay dwarfs any reward that might come of it.”
Jason examined her face, reading what he could from her expression and seeing only steely resolve.
“I believe you. I wouldn’t know how to do that anyway. But if you’re going back on our deal, why are you even here? To tell me?”
“I am not reneging on our agreement. I will help you, but it should not be now.”
“Should not? It feels like every other god or great astral being loves bending the rules. Your boss can do the same, can’t it? Give you permission to get me out of here.”
“The being I serve has always been one of integrity. It opposed the sundering of the throne, but you are right. It could overlook me doing this, although it would come at a cost. For me, and my relationship with the one I serve. But if you do insist, I will take you from this place and you can leave it as you found it.”
“You’re implying that the cost would go beyond you.”
“Once a being steps into the wider cosmos, there are ramifications for their actions. Some stones, when dropped into a pond, leavy nary a ripple. Others make a grand splash. The peak transcendent beings of the cosmos have been flaunting the rules for a long time. Gods, astral kings and great astral beings have been throwing stones into the pond, with little thought for the consequences and the damage they do. You understand the consequences, and have done more to rectify the damage than most. Now, Jason Asano, you stand beside the pond yourself, with a stone in your hand. How will you choose to throw it?”
“I know that I’m going to have an impact of the cosmos. I’m the System, and an astral king, but every ripple I’ve made in the pond was because I was handed a giant rock to drop in. I’m not strong enough to throw one myself.”
“I’m afraid that you are, like it or not, and you stand at a crossroads. When the time comes to throw stones of your own, how will you do it? We stand in the ruins of an afterlife. A result of the throne being sundered and the great astral beings failing to understand how damaging their actions would be. They bent rules and broke them outright. Even now, with the throne restored, gods and astral kings work to subvert the rules, albeit more carefully. If you wish, I will take you out of this place, right now. The Keeper of the Sands will bend the integrity it has held for so long that I might fulfil my debt to you. And you can walk away, leaving this place as you found it.”
“I hear a ‘but’ coming, Raythe, and I am not Sir-Mix-a-Lot.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“I don’t like big ‘buts,’ and I am very capable of lying.”
“Do you take anything seriously?”
Jason walked right up to Raythe and stared her in the eyes.
“You and I made a deal, Raythe. A deal that would get me back to Earth when it needs me most. Do you want to see how seriously I take that?”
“Does it?”
“Does what?”
“Does the Earth need you? Or would you do more harm than good?”
Jason took a step back.
“What are you talking about?”
“There is no question that you are a capable combatant, Jason Asano. But, as you are, sealed away from the fullness of your power, would you genuinely be an asset that could turn the entire war?”
“No,” Jason admitted. “How do I break this seal?”
“It will last around quarter of a century on its own.”
“You’re basically a time wizard. Can’t you lock me in a time loop for that long?”
“I could, but only your avatar, not the entirety of your astral kingdom, so the seal would remain.”
“What are my other options?”
“Reach diamond-rank. The seal is attuned to what you are. Change what you are, and it will no longer bind you.”
“Right, just get to diamond-rank like it’s nothing.”
“You are already closing in. I told you that you face a crossroads. The choice you make here will impact not just what you do, but who you are. Who you decide to be, and what place you will take within the cosmos. If you choose to leave this place now, I will bend the rules and liberate you from it.”
“What’s wrong with that? I don’t have to be here to reach diamond-rank, and at that point, my presence would sway the war.”
“Yes, but not in the way you think. The World-Phoenix had sealed the Earth from diamond-rankers. The condition she has set on breaking that seal is—”
“Me hitting diamond-rank, I know.”
“But there is a loophole. That condition is only met when you exert diamond-rank power upon the Earth in some way. You can reach diamond-rank, but so long as you do not visit Earth or exert active power through your domains there, the ban on diamond-rankers will remain.”
“Why is that good for me?”
“How many diamond-rankers can you bring to bear, Jason Asano? And how many can Knowledge? The moment she is permitted to send diamond-rankers through the bridge, she will. Do you think she has not anticipated the possibility of your escape? That she has not been mustering every diamond-ranker that she can command, manipulate or cajole into her service, in preparation for that moment? As it stands, Earth has a chance while the forces arrayed against them are limited to gold. If that changes, they lose almost immediately.”
“None of that means I shouldn’t leave this place. I can go to Earth, fight, and get out when I am approaching diamond.”
“And pulling out at the last moment never goes wrong.”
Jason’s eyebrows shot up.
“What I am telling you,” she continued, “is that leaving this place now does not solve your problems. You have allies that are preparing to become a diamond-rank force of their own, but it will take time. You need to decide how to spend that time. Not just because of what you can accomplish, but because of what your choice will mean for who you become.”
Shade and Gordon had been staying back and listening silently, but Shade now stepped forward.
“If I might interject, Mr Asano.”
Jason turned to him and nodded.
“Your advice is always welcome.”
“Mr Asano, you did not tell Knowledge that you were going to fight her army. You said that you would kill her. The answer to how you do that cannot be found on Earth. Pursuing it there will only take you further from your goal, and further from what you need to become before you face her.”
“Returning to Earth is an admirable objective,” Raythe said, “but it is one rooted in a mortal perspective.”
“I like having a mortal perspective.”
“As you should. Providing that is my core purpose as a prime vessel. But you are not mortal, and if you always act as if you are, there will be consequences that go well beyond you. I believe that you have made that mistake before, and resolved to avoid making it again whenever possible. You are on a strange and erratic journey beyond the bounds of mortality. Sometimes you must step back before you can clearly see the path ahead.”
“Yeah, and while I’m navel-gazing at the cosmos, my family and whole damn world are fighting for their lives!”
Raythe looked back at him, saying nothing. Jason let out a frustrated groan, then took a deep, slow breath. As he let it out, he stilled his mind, letting the anger clouding it flow out with the air. He stood in silence, eyes closed, how long for he was uncertain.
Then his eyes opened.
“Leave this place as I found it,” he said. “Those were the words you used.”
“I did.”
“You don’t strike me as someone who chooses her words without care.”
“I am not.”
Jason looked over at the now-restored castle. At the former undead, now lying in piles, unconscious before him.
“The Reaper helped Umber put me here,” Jason said.
“Yes.”
“It wants me to fix this place, doesn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“That’s the non-mortal perspective you want me to have. The mortal choice is to follow my instincts. Go home, fight for my people. Ignore that it will compromise the integrity of the Keeper of the Sands. And of me, when I abandon this place to its corruption.”
“Yes.”
“The other option is what? Fix this entire realm? Is it a planet? A universe? Some infinite plane that goes on forever?”
“Structurally, it is a planet contained within what amounts to its own universe.”
“So, an entire planet. Purge a whole planet of undead. While, I might add, I’m being hunted by an army of energy vampires whose leader has a sword that can make me explode.”
“Yes.”
“And making that choice means abandoning my own planet to a war with a goddess.”
“Not with a goddess. With the forces she has prepared, just as you have prepared yours. Neither you nor the goddess are there for the fighting itself.”
“And that’s part of the choice isn’t it? Do I situate myself with the mortals, or position myself as the counterpart to the goddess?”
“There are many steps on the road to diamond-rank,” Raythe said. “Each one shapes who you are and the impact you will have. Will you choose compromise and personal goals, or integrity and taking responsibility for the cosmic order?”
“The cosmic order isn’t my responsibility!”
“Yet you have taken that responsibility, time and again. When the Earth was threatened with dimensional collapse. When the Sundered Throne required restoration. It was not your responsibility, but you took it.”
“Someone had to.”
“That is demonstrably not true. There are consequences of letting things get worse, yet you have seen how many choose to do so.”
Jason lowered his head, running angry hands through his hair and letting out a low growl.
“The Reaper didn’t have to do this now. I’d have been willing to come and help clear out his attic, just not right this moment. It’s not like what’s going on here is urgent. It’s been in this state for billions of years. Surely the Reaper understood the timing.”
“It doesn’t think like that. It could be argued that it doesn’t think at all. When not encapsulated in a mortal vessel, a great astral being could be better described as a will than a mind. It doesn’t comprehend empathy or time or the value of a mortal life. That is why great astral beings have prime vessels. To think and feel for them. Velius did advise against the timing on this, but the Reaper saw an opportunity and took it. Not out of maliciousness but because it had a problem and saw a solution. That is its nature.”
“Yeah, and we’ve been talking a lot about consequences. The Reaper is going to pay for that choice.”
“And it will do so gladly, so long as its purpose is fulfilled. But the choice you must focus on now is yours. Will you act as a mortal man and serve your own interests, or as an immortal and take a broader perspective?”
“The problem with broader perspectives is that people start looking small. Irrelevant. It makes it easy to ignore their suffering.”
“Yes. But larger problems take larger solutions. That is part of the choice as well. Sometimes making the big decisions means trusting the details to others. You can’t do it all yourself.”
Jason scowled, turned from Raythe and stalked away, putting distance between them. Shade and Gordon followed to stand beside him, and he turned to give them each a smile. The smile vanished as he turned to face Raythe.
“You knew,” he accused. “Before you said a single word, you knew what I would do.”
“I did not know. I expected, and certainly hoped, but the choice must be yours. Your attachment to mortal sensibilities is famous, and you have surprised us before.”
“Us?”
“You are a new great astral being. You think there are not eyes cast upon you from across the cosmos, in fear and hope? The choices you make, including the one right here, will resonate across infinity.”
Jason stared at her for a long time with accusing eyes.
“I’ll do it,” he told her. “I’ll purge the corruption from this whole bloody planet. Then I’ll find a way to kill that goddess, and the next time I need your help, you are going to pay that debt or the cosmic order is going to find out exactly what I’m going to do to it.”
“You can’t threaten the entire cosmos, Jason Asano.”
Instead of answering, he started walking towards Raythe as light built up from within his body. It lit up his eyes and passed through his skin, shining solid gold at first, before flickering on and off in a strobe effect. Then the light cut out completely, only to be replaced by another. Instead of gold it what silvery-white, filled to bursting with flecks of diamond like a field of stars.
Ability [Hegemon] has reached Gold 9 (100%).
Ability [Hegemon] has reached Diamond 0 (100%).
Jason kept walking, as if not noticing the blazing light pouring out of him. As he reached Raythe, his eyes locked on hers once again.
“Watch me.”
***
The door of his dimension ship opened and Raythe stepped inside to the reception chamber. It was more ostentatious than the rest of the vessel, with pristine white marble accented with dark wood.
“Well?” Velius asked.
Raythe nodded.
“His aura reached diamond-rank on the spot,” she told him. “He made the choice we wanted.”
“As expected, but I won’t say I wasn’t concerned. Cosmic power with a mortal outlook is a volatile mix.”
“He was not happy with the Reaper. You’ll need to deal with that.”
“Yes, but this was necessary if Asano is going to reach diamond fast enough to be of use to his world. He’s clay in need of a kiln.”
“It could have backfired. Created a new cosmic problem on the level of the Builder.”
“It still could. I don’t want to be on the receiving end of a grudge if he doesn’t eventually realise that we’re doing this for him.”
“He will, surely. You spent years observing him on Earth; he’s not a complete idiot, right?”
Raythe narrowed her eyes at Velius.
“Right?